Moscow, 30 March 2023 (dpa/MIA) - A Moscow court detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on Thursday and said it would hold him in custody until at least May 29th for alleged spying for the United States.

"The targeting of American citizens by the Russian government is unacceptable," the White House said in a statement, adding that it condemns the detention in "the strongest terms." 

The US State Department is in direct contact with the Russian government and is actively seeking to provide Gershkovich with consular access, it said.

The Wall Street Journal vehemently denied the allegations, called for his release and said it was concerned about his welfare.

"We stand in solidarity with Evan and his family," the newspaper said. The human rights organization Reporters Without Borders called the journalist's arrest "worrying."

"Journalists must not be targeted," the organization demanded.

Gershkovich, born in 1991, faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. The Russian legal system is considered highly politicized and charges nearly always lead to convictions.

The Russian domestic intelligence service FSB said it detained the US reporter in Yekaterinburg in the Urals for "espionage in the interests of the American government." The region is some 900 miles east of Moscow.

The spy agency said Gershkovich had collected information on the military-industrial complex in Russia on behalf of the US side.

"While attempting to obtain secret information, the foreigner was detained in Yekaterinburg," the FSB said. Media had previously reported that the reporter had disappeared.

According to the media, Gershkovich had tried to write a report on the attitude of the population to the recruitment attempts of the private army Wagner, which is deployed in the war against Ukraine.

"As far as we know, he was caught red-handed," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state radio on Thursday. The Sverdlovsk region around Yekaterinburg is considered one of the strongholds of Russia's arms industry.

Recently, German journalists had also complained of persecution and threats during visits to Yekaterinburg.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova used the case as an opportunity to accuse Western correspondents in general of spying on Russia under the guise of journalism. Zakharova said what Gershkovich dealt with in Yekaterinburg had nothing to do with journalism.

"Unfortunately, this is not the first case where the status of a foreign correspondent, journalist visa and accreditation of foreigners in our country are used to disguise an activity that is not journalism," she said on Telegram.

Zakharova also repeatedly complains that Russian journalists are subject to repression in the West, including in Germany. Only last week, she publicly warned of steps against German correspondents in Moscow should the German government exert pressure against Russians.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine 13 months ago, Moscow has once again significantly restricted freedom of expression and freedom of the press in the country. There is also the threat of legal proceedings for discrimination or damage to the reputation of the Russian army.

Some correspondents and media had temporarily stopped working last year after the war began for fear of repression. The number of Western journalists has decreased because many media can't get their reporters accredited.

Americans are repeatedly suspected of espionage or other crimes in Russia, though this may be the first espionage case against a journalist officially accredited to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The Russian opposition called it a "hostage-taking," the team of jailed Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny announced.

It said Russian President Vladimir Putin "is ready to use any method to put pressure on the West."

Putin had in the past repeatedly freed imprisoned Russian criminals in the US by swapping them with Americans convicted in Moscow.

His spokesman Peskov did not initially want to comment on such a possibility in Gershkovich's case. However, the Kremlin spokesman said that Wall Street Journal correspondents could continue to work in Russia if they complied with the law.